Walking the Ten Thousand Daos

Chapter 65: Shifting Blame

Undoubtedly, when Shen Shuibi emerged, she immediately drew the gaze of the entire shop.

Li Qi never imagined that merely changing clothes, transforming her disheveled hair into a neatly combed style and adding a simple wooden hairpin could make such a dramatic difference.

So, Li Qi quickly paid the money. He had originally intended to bargain and lower the price, but after this unexpected turn of events, he no longer dared to haggle. He grabbed Shen Shuibi and hurried outside.

"Excuse me, excuse me..." he said, smiling apologetically to the passersby, pulling out Shen Shuibi, who was delighted with her new clothes.

Based on their month of interaction and his understanding of Shen Shuibi, Li Qi would bet that she was completely oblivious to the attention she was receiving. The smile on her face was likely pure joy.

Just like a child with a new toy.

She was simply happy, but as Li Qi pulled her along the street, the surrounding gazes nearly pierced him.

Yet, Li Qi was unwilling to deprive Shen Shuibi of the joy of wearing her new clothes. If he made her change back just to avoid attracting attention...

That would make him seem too useless.

Even if it drew some attention, he should still be able to protect her.A sudden surge of inexplicable self-esteem prevented Li Qi from being as cautious as usual. Instead, he boldly took Shen Shuibi's hand and walked towards the city gates.

Fortunately, the Great Lu Kingdom, overall, could be considered a land with strict laws, though this strictness was only evident on the surface.

Nevertheless, the outward strictness was enough to deter others from acting in broad daylight.

As for nightfall...

In this world, no one would leave the city at night.

Li Qi pulled Shen Shuibi along, walking out of the city and into the wilderness, entering the non-human settlement of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.

He let out a whistle.

Shen Shuibi covered her ears, trembling all over, twisting constantly, her expression contorting into a mask of pain, alternating between green and purple.

She absolutely could not stand sharp sounds; perhaps this was the price of a rabbit's keen hearing.

But only such a sound could travel widely.

Soon, a whinny echoed in response, the old horse neighing in the distance.

Before long, a handsome, elegant horse galloped swiftly, wind at its heels and clouds accompanying it. It flew through the forest, charging at an incredible speed to Li Qi's front, rubbing its equine face against him.

"Alright, you two stay here for the night. I'm going to buy some other outdoor essentials and a map. Old horse, what do you want to eat? Beans? Oats?" Li Qi said to the old horse.

The old horse neighed, pawing its hooves.

Shen Shuibi then began to translate: "He says he wants oats, preferably mixed with some beets."

"Quite demanding, aren't you? Alright, I'll bring them for you when I return." Li Qi patted the horse's back, then turned to Shen Shuibi. "You two stay around here for now. With the old horse, nothing should be able to catch up to you. I'll probably be back tonight; if not tonight, then definitely by tomorrow morning. I need to deal with that gold. Oh, and old horse's mane, give me another lock." Li Qi said, cutting a lock of the old horse's mane with his knife, causing the horse to shake its head in displeasure.

He had a feeling that soon, his beautiful mane would be bald from Li Qi's constant cutting.

"En, okay, Old Horse and I will wait for you here." Shen Shuibi nodded.

She was always so direct.

Though she seemed a bit dazed, she was after all, a formidable individual who could cripple her own cultivation.

Li Qi sometimes asked himself, after cultivating for hundreds or even thousands of years, and finally reaching Fifth-Rank, could he easily cripple his cultivation?

It was hard to say, but he certainly wouldn't be as at peace with it as Shen Shuibi was.

To this day, he had never seen Shen Shuibi disheartened by the loss of her cultivation. She seemed to always be in good spirits and even when occasionally unhappy, she could quickly adjust.

It was as if the thousand years of lost cultivation were not hers.

As if transforming from a lofty immortal being to this weak woman, powerless and reliant on him for survival, was not worth any sorrow at all.

Her willpower was truly steadfast.

Of course, it was also possible that she was simply a bit dazed and hadn't realized it.

But Li Qi thought that was unlikely.

While Shen Shuibi had a somewhat dazed and adorable personality, her profound and bottomless experience and knowledge were evident.

Being dazed didn't mean low intelligence. How could someone who could remember so much be foolish?

So Li Qi actually admired Shen Shuibi quite a bit.

After giving these instructions, Li Qi sorted out his money and handed his luggage to Shen Shuibi for safekeeping.

Then, he returned to the city.

He still had to deal with the gold.

The method he conceived to deal with the gold without incurring personal loss, taking no risks, and avoiding shifting the burden onto others, was to use the money for a sacrifice.

He decided to be resolute, spend some money, and hold a small sacrifice.

To whom would he sacrifice?

To the Earth Deity he was most familiar with.

The Qinghua Palace Deity of the Li River.

The Earth Deity he was most familiar with, the one he participated in the grand ceremony for every year, the River God of the Li River, to whom he had already offered sacrifices three times!

...

"Come, yes, just arrange it like that."

"Place the altar here, exactly, right here."

"Wait a moment, you'll be responsible for beating the drum here, just tap this small drum."

Li Qi directed some laborers.

He hired these people to help him set up a small Daoist ritual ground for sacrificing to the River God, paying each person ten qian.

This included some wood, meat offerings, small paper boats, spices, and a lock of the old horse's mane.

A pure-colored Dragon Steed was incredibly useful.

All of this cost Li Qi two thousand three hundred qian, including labor.

Honestly, his heart was bleeding.

However, he had actually intended to do this anyway; the gold simply helped him make the final decision.

As a ritual priest, he had never before conducted a sacrifice involving more than one person. This was a new beginning.

Such multi-person sacrifices were truly the way to acquire sufficient power.

Now, just thinking about the scale of the river-opening ceremony... he couldn't help but tremble.

Each year, for the river-opening, tens of thousands of people busied themselves, with countless rituals and offerings.

How much did the ritual's conductor, the Prefect of Li Prefecture, gain from it?

Never mind, he wouldn't think about that. He would focus on his own sacrificial ground.

With these preparations complete, Li Qi stepped forward, presented the offerings and sent the folded paper boats into the Li River.

Among the offerings, conspicuously, was that very piece of gold!

Offering gold to the gods was inherently a tradition of sacrifice. Was there any problem with that?

Meat, wine, gold, Dragon Steed mane, everything was completed according to ritual.

Damn it, whatever disaster or curse this thing carried, let it try to find the God of the Li River!

Li Qi didn't believe it; could such a thing contend with that esteemed entity?

...